PMH49 - The Economic Consequences of the use of Antidepressants in Belgium

Abstract

Antidepressants use is increasing worldwide but is particularly high in Belgium compared to other EU countries whereas suicide-rates in Belgium are among the highest. This could reflect misuse of antidepressants resulting in an important economic burden. The former is part of a separate abstract. The aim here was to evaluate potential savings that could be realized in case prescriptions behavior in Belgium would be similar to neighbor countries. Current spending levels for antidepressants and mood stabilizer prescriptions were determined in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Volume and value sales were determined per country (average number of pills sold/capita) based on IMS Health Belgian National Retail Database available to IMS Health in both countries via the IMS MIDAS platform (2013 data). The potential country-level prescription cost in Belgium was estimated by multiplying average number of pills/person in France and the Netherlands, with the cost/pill in Belgium and extrapolating the result to the total population in Belgium, assuming that prescribing levels in Belgium were equal to those in France and the Netherlands and using Belgian prices. In Belgium the number of pills per capita is respectively 45% and 48% higher compared to France and the Netherlands (34.17 vs. 23.62 vs. 23.15 pills/person). With a 30% smaller population than the Netherlands, spending in Belgium is 4 times higher. In France, having a 6 times larger population compared to Belgium, spending is only 3 times higher. The estimated savings for the Belgian payer applying the usage (pill/person) of respectively France and the Netherlands and current cost/pill in Belgium were €67 and €70 Mn, meaning around 30% of current spending in Belgium. By comparing Belgium’s prescription patterns to France and the Netherlands, we estimated important potential savings due to antidepressant mis-use/over-use that could be re-invested in for example mental health prevention.